The Circle of Seven
The Circle of Seven is the name given to the Shaderian Military's innermost circle. It consists of Lich King Solomon and six of his most powerful military advisors. Kane: where did you find these creepy people? Goth Convention maybe? Marquise de Aversa - Death Knight Alistaire Crue - Necromancer Sacrenoir - Death Knight Mortimer Goth - Necromancer Countessa Tamik - Death Knight Baron Samedi - Necromancer 'Marquise de Aversa' Status - Trapped in Outland Marquise de Aversa (formerly Sadine de Aversa) was born to a powerful Fusonian family. She lived there in misery for thirteen years, having only the suffering and misfortune of others to entertain her. Her parents grew very concerned with her lack of basic empathy for others and forced her to undergo numerous psychological tests and exercises to exorcise the evil from within her. She had always despised her parents but this pushed her too far and so, at the age of fourteen, she murdered her parents and fled for Shaderia, hoping to seek refuge under the Lich King Solomon who she deemed the only person who understood her. Whilst in Shaderia, Sadine took up the title of her family. She did this not out of family honour or out of respect for the title, but to spite the family who sought to disown her should she not change her ways. To corrupt and defile the once glorious title of the de Aversa family gave her much satisfaction. De Aversa was schooled in the art of Necromancy and quickly became a skilled practioner. However, due to her excellent abilites in hand to hand combat Solomon promoted Marquise de Aversa to a Death Knight instead of a Necromancer and allowed her to join The Circle of Seven at the age of twenty one, making her the youngest member of the elite group. She often leads wars alongside the necromancer Alistaire Crue. . 'Alistaire Crue' Status - Trapped in Outland As a child Alistaire Crue showed astonishing potential in almost anything he attempted. His ability to comprehend complex ideas boggled the mind of numerous child psychiatrists and top scientists. Being gifted however did not always prove to be for the best. Many bullies chose Alistaire as a target for their vicious pranks and most of his teenage years were spent being tormented by his peers. Eventually Alistaire decided to put an end to his misery once and for all. After several months of studying necromancy Alistaire succeeded in raising his first corpse. This act in itself was truly amazing as honing such skills take most practictioners years. Several more months passed and Alistaire lured his tormentors to an abandoned burial ground. Before the bullies could even take a swing at Alistaire an army of the undead arose from their shallow graves and circled around Alistaire's victims, ensuring that none could escape. The bullies pleaded for forgiveness and some even tried to escape but Alistaire was after revenge. Swinging his sceptre his skeletal servants were torn apart, their bones were sent soaring through the air and soon after skewered the ones who had made his life hell. After the incident he tried to return to his normal life but found that it was no longer a life he could have. He left home at the age of seventeen, as he travelled the world Alistaire made use of his skills for what he deemed was "the greater good" before eventually settling in Shaderia. Upon hearing of Alistaire's skills Solomon took an interest in him and eventually invited him to join his inner circle. He is often seen fighting alongside the versatile Death Knight Marquise de Aversa. . 'Sacrenoir' Status - Fighting AAC in Haringtopia Sacrenoir was born to shaderian warrior Markheim Senoir and his wife (former member of the circle of seven and elite necromancer) Anise. The only life Sacrenoir knew was filled with death. He regularly accompanied his parents on excursions where they would practice their skills and overtime he became a promising warrior just like his father. At the age of 18 he accompanied his parents in a battle against Lupinis, despite the Shaderian forces being vastly outnumbered their skills of the army managed to decimate the Lupinis troops. However, the soldiers who remained sought death or glory and ambushed Sacrenoir as he ressurrected the troops who had fallen. Despite his best efforts the numbers were too many as he suffered multiple blows which proved fatal. Markheim and Anise rushed to aid their son, slashing the Lupinis resistance and destroying the multitude of "Arising" warriors who, without Sacrenoir to lead them attacked anything living in brutal frenzy. After securing the body of their son Markheim and Anise fled the battlefield to seek shelter inside a nearby mountain cave. Convinced that neither of them could live without their son Anise decided to attempt something that had never been attempted before, to ressurect a corpse that retained all it's memories of life. Sacrenoir had never undergone the lichtic process and so to bind a soul that was not yet prepared was dangerous. But Markheim and Anise had made up their mind, to ensure that Sacrenoir would live they would choose to die. After leaving a scroll explaining to their son, Anise sacrificed Markheim and once the process was almost complete she sacrificed herself. Sacrenoir woke up several days later to the corpses of his parents and the note that they had left him. With the strength of his parents pulsing through his veins he donned his father's armour and equipped his mother's scythe before attacking the Lupinis outpost in a psychotic act of revenge. Over thirty soldiers lay dead at the hands of this warrior reborn. Using the corpses of the enemies he slaughtered Sacrenoir trekked across Lupinis destroying any soldiers who stood in his way, and eventually made his way back to Shaderia. Upon hearing about the death of Anise, Solomon was deeply saddened, but sensing her strength emitting from Sacrenoir he soon decided to offer Sacrenoir her position and he was officially inaugurated into The Circle of Seven. Though he is now primarily a Death Knight and only uses necromancy when he has laid his foes to waste. Sacrenoir often fights alongside the Necromancer Mortimer Goth .. .. 'Mortimer Goth' Status - Fighting AAC in Haringtopia Mortimer Goth has had a rather unneventful upbringing compared to the other generals. He was born in Talkeetna to Nigel Goth, a fisherman, and Cordelia Goth, a school teacher. When Mortimer was 11 he moved with his parents to Tlentifini Maarhaysu, after his father decided to follow the Tarvuist church. During his time at the church he learnt how to talk to an octopus along with the other tarvuists and showed great promise in his readings of the scripture. When he was 17 he met Bella Vines at a Tarvuist retreat and the two of them were married the following year. Seven years later while he was on vacation with Bella and their daughter, Cassandra tragedy struck. The ladders of the swimming pool that they were swimming in were torn away before their eyes in an abrupt storm, Cassandra, who was only young, was unable to keep herself afloat and Bella soon followed. By some miracle Mortimer managed to survive the ordeal but his personality had changed dramatically. He became reserved and refused to believe that his wife and child were gone. It wasn't long before he abandoned Tarvuism and refused to give Bella and Cassandra a Tarvuist funeral. Instead he had their bodies embalmed so that they may stay preserved. Since then he travelled to the western cities of Shaderia to learn the art of necromancy. He has shown great promise in the art and is one of the most advanced practictioners yet he still feels that there is more to learn. He took up the position of general as he felt that it was the greatest exercise for his necromantic skills. Many people suspect that he hopes to bring back his loved ones with their memories intact and many have disuaded him saying that it is nothing but a pipe dream, but Mortimer refuses to give in. 'Countessa Tamik' Status - Trying to bring order back to Shaderia following Solomon's death Countessa Tamik was born to one of the most powerful families in Shaderia in a time before The Immortal's Purge. As a child she would spend most of her time with Solomon, following him around no matter where he went. Tamik was a timid girl but, longing for Solomon's attention, she eventually turned to some darker practices. After the purge was over and Queen Carodyne had died Tamik tried to do anything to make Solomon happy and so she vowed to help him enact his vengeance upon the Gods. For the better part of a decade love stood second to anger but still she never waivered and stood at Solomon's side doing whatever he asked and even managing to procure the fabled Dagger of Sarakhbet which Solomon would use to finally kill Azhul. On the night that Solomon laid waste to Azhul, Tamik eagerly waited for his return. She stood out on the castles balcony watching the fires descend from the heavens but knew deep down that Solomon could still be. As the days continued she began to grow scared, fearing that Solomon had succumbed to non existence, and eventually made the decision to take her own life. Several days after her suicide, and as she was being buried in the gardens, a breathing Prince Solomon returned, wearing naught but his mother's necklace. Overcome with emotion upon seeing the corpse of the only person he had left Solomon demanded to be alone. As he silently mourned over the coffin of his beloved his body filled with rage and his blood began to boil and Tamik's finger twitched. Solomon stood in shock upon seeing what had just happened, Azhul was dead, surely nothing else could bring her back to life, but there it was again, her fingers began to twitch. Placing his arms over the corpse of the Countessa he focused all of his energies into bringing her back to life. Her chest began to raise, her legs began to move, everything went black. When Solomon awoke he saw that he was asleep in his chamber, and Countessa Tamik sat beside him, her already decaying corpse stared lovingly into his eyes. Countessa Tamik had been brought back to life, brought back into being by Solomon's hand. Not only was she the first to arise at Solomon's hand, but she was also one of the few whose memories remained. Countessa Tamik has stood by Solomon throughout the many centuries of his rule and throughout this time she has been transformed into a formidable Death Knight and an excellent tactician. Although she once fought beside Baron Samedi in battle as one of Solomon's generals, after Baron assassinated Solomon and fled the country Countessa has been placed as the queen of the country, and as she is trying to restore order in the west, she no longer ventures into battle. .. 'Baron Samedi' Status - Currently in hiding, attempted to ressurrect Sarakhbet The life of Baron Samedi is hidden beneath a shroud even thicker than Shaderia's, given the many centuries he has "lived" and his secretive disposition. Intelligence that has been gathered on the Baron places his existence before recorded history. As Azhul was teaching the inhabitants of (what is now called) Shaderia how to raise the dead, Baron Samedi became interested. He followed and worshipped Azhul but eventually became corrupted and used his knowledge of the dead to grant himself eternal life. After achieving eternal life he sought to create a twisted religion around himself. Azhul was enraged upon discovering this but instead of ridding him of immortality Azhul imprisoned Baron Samedi. He was bound by magic and buried deep in the bowels of Mount Harakh where he would spend eternity paralyzed but aware. When Azhul was killed by Prince Solomon the spell which imprisoned Baron Samedi gradually weakened until the Baron rose once again, ready to corrupt and defile. After discovering Solomon was responsible for his freedom, Samedi pledged allegence to the king, and because of his expert knowledge of necromancy the Baron was eventually given a seat in Solomon's most inner circle. Although the Baron is presumed to be a lich nobody knows what he has bound his soul to. Many people believe it is still buried in the bowels of Mount Harakh, safe from harm, ensuring the Baron never dies. '''In battle Baron Samedi is often seen fighting alongside the Death Knight Countessa Tamik. '''Having prevented the Immortal Azhul from returning to this world, and the power of Immortals now starting to flow freely, Baron Samedi assassinated Solomon in order to gain the power of Azhul for himself, as well as speaking of the return of Sarakhbet. As he plunged a celestial dagger into Solomon's heart a blinding light engulfed them both before he vanished completely. .